Posted By Matt West On June 11, 2010 @ 8:19 pm In General | 4 Comments

Lakers radio color commentator and Los Angeles radio show co-host Mychal Thompson, a former Laker, appeared on The Big Show Friday afternoon to discuss the Celtics-Lakers matchup and who he sees winning the series.

I’m very amused by [Cedric Maxwell[2]] over there enjoying his last moment of glory here, last moment of happiness celebrating the victory last night, led by “Donk and Shrek” or whatever his name is. Let him enjoy the moment right now because that’s the last piece of enjoyment he’ll have around here until the Yankees[3] come in here and knock you guys out of the playoffs.

That’s OK, we have another 7-footer to act, don’t forget about my boy D.J. Mbenga sitting there. One thing D.J. can do is guard the basketball. We don’t care about scoring. The problem with the Lakers [in Game 4] was they couldn’t make stops, and D.J. can make stops. ‘¦ We’re not panicking, because the Lakers have the best player in the world in Kobe Bryant[5]. The only thing missing in the fourth quarter ‘ I give the Celtics[6] credit, they definitely came out and put it on the Lakers. They wanted it. They understood the sense of urgency to win that game. otherwise the series was over. I’ll give them credit for that. Now the Lakers must match their energy on Sunday [Game 5]. If the Lakers match the Celtics’ energy, the Celtics can’t beat them.

Isn’t that the same story from 2008?

Well, we had some softer guys on that team. But now with Ron Artest[7] able to shut down Paul Pierce[8] …

Some people say we haven’t seen the best of the Celtics yet.

Seeing the best of the Celtics won’t matter, because you guys just aren’t as talented. Kendrick Perkins[9] is not as good a player in the post as Pau Gasol[10]. [Kevin Garnett[11]] is not the KG of two years ago.

The Celtics haven’t played their best yet. Would that concern you?

No, because I know Paul Pierce and Ray Allen[12] are going to bust out and have a good shooting game eventually. ‘¦ I’m not worried about offensively. It’s the energy level, it’s the aggression. If the Lakers come out like they did in Games 1, 2 and 3, if they play with that kind of energy, they’ll beat the Celtics.

Have the fans in LA been complaining about the officiating?

Yeah, but you’ve got to play through that. You’ve got to be like Maxwell and [Larry] Bird[13] and those guys were: tough mentally, don’t worry about the officials. When you start looking over your shoulder, you’re going to lose, you’ve got to forget about the officials and adjust to how they call the game.

Do we go seven games?

No, six. The Lakers win Sunday [in Game 5] and close them out Tuesday [in Game 6].